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May 2: You need a heart of stone not to laugh, but Tim Waterstone has failed yet again in his attempt to buy back the bookshop chain that bears his name for £280m. For nine years he has tried to regain control of the business. Alas, his quest has had more arbitrary twists than a John Buchan novel: this time he is blamingHMV, which owns Waterstone’s, for imposing too onerous conditions on him. Lazard Private Equity Partners, who were backing him, seem to have given up a bit easily. Those interested in whether bookstores can compete with the online booksellers might like to look at normblog.typepad.com.